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  SHEEP-MAGGOT 
  FLIES 
  IN 
  AUSTRALIA. 
  

  

  By 
  Walter 
  W. 
  Froggatt, 
  F.L.S., 
  etc. 
  

  

  Government 
  Entomologist, 
  New 
  South 
  Wales. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  serious 
  pests 
  that 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  are 
  threatening 
  the 
  great 
  wool 
  and 
  

   sheep 
  industry 
  of 
  Australia, 
  are 
  the 
  sheep-maggot 
  flies 
  (blow-flies 
  belonging 
  to 
  the 
  

   genus 
  Calliphora). 
  Until 
  about 
  ten 
  years 
  ago 
  blown 
  wool 
  on 
  living 
  healthy 
  sheep 
  

   was 
  unknown, 
  sheep 
  that 
  were 
  worried 
  and 
  torn 
  by 
  dogs 
  were 
  blown, 
  and 
  rams 
  that 
  

   damaged 
  their 
  heads 
  fighting 
  might 
  have 
  to 
  be 
  dressed 
  and 
  cleaned 
  of 
  maggots, 
  but 
  

   the 
  bush 
  blow-flies 
  had 
  not 
  until 
  about 
  that 
  date 
  acquired 
  or 
  developed 
  the 
  habit 
  of 
  

   depositing 
  eggs 
  or 
  living 
  maggots 
  in 
  the 
  soiled 
  or 
  damp 
  fleece 
  of 
  the 
  ordinary 
  station 
  

   paddock 
  sheep. 
  

  

  They 
  were 
  first 
  noticed 
  among 
  the 
  stud 
  sheep 
  where 
  the 
  fleece 
  was 
  fine, 
  close, 
  and 
  

   heavy 
  with 
  yoke 
  ; 
  then 
  they 
  found 
  the 
  lambing 
  ewes, 
  attacked 
  the 
  lambs 
  after 
  

   marking, 
  then 
  any 
  close- 
  woolled 
  dirty 
  wether, 
  and 
  finally 
  infested 
  the 
  rams 
  ; 
  so 
  that 
  

   at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  we 
  find 
  all 
  classes 
  and 
  sexes 
  fly-blown 
  at 
  some 
  time 
  of 
  the 
  year. 
  

   The 
  damage 
  and 
  expense 
  caused 
  by 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  these 
  maggots 
  is 
  three-fold. 
  They 
  

   usually 
  blow 
  the 
  wool 
  round 
  the 
  tail 
  or 
  rump 
  (some 
  of 
  the 
  best 
  of 
  the 
  fleece) 
  ; 
  they 
  

   cause 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  many 
  sheep 
  and 
  lambs 
  ; 
  and 
  they 
  are 
  responsible 
  for 
  a 
  great 
  amount 
  

   of 
  very 
  objectionable 
  and 
  disgusting 
  work, 
  which 
  keeps 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  men 
  doing 
  nothing 
  

   but 
  crutching 
  and 
  dressing 
  sheep 
  all 
  the 
  year 
  round, 
  entailing 
  a 
  large 
  extra 
  expenditure 
  

   of 
  time 
  and 
  money 
  on 
  every 
  sheep 
  station. 
  In 
  the 
  first 
  instance, 
  when 
  blown 
  sheep 
  

   were 
  observed 
  and 
  flies 
  were 
  bred 
  from 
  the 
  maggots, 
  they 
  were 
  almost 
  always 
  the 
  two 
  

   large 
  yellow 
  species 
  common 
  in 
  both 
  town 
  and 
  country 
  : 
  Calliphora 
  villosa, 
  the 
  larger 
  

   golden-yellow-bodied 
  fly 
  ; 
  or 
  the 
  somewhat 
  smaller 
  Calliphora 
  oceaniae, 
  distinguished 
  

   by 
  the 
  bright 
  blue 
  patch 
  on 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  abdomen. 
  But 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  short 
  time 
  the 
  

   metallic 
  blue 
  blow-fly, 
  Calliphora 
  rufifacies, 
  acquired 
  the 
  habit 
  and 
  is 
  now 
  in 
  the 
  north 
  

   and 
  north-west 
  parts 
  of 
  this 
  State 
  the 
  chief 
  cause 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  damaged 
  wool. 
  The 
  larvae 
  

   of 
  the 
  last-named 
  species 
  are 
  darker 
  and 
  not 
  so 
  elongate 
  as 
  the 
  smooth 
  cylindrical 
  

   maggots 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  former 
  species 
  ; 
  they 
  are 
  usually 
  known 
  among 
  bushmen 
  as 
  

   " 
  hairy 
  maggots," 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  fringe 
  of 
  fine 
  fleshy 
  filaments 
  along 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  

   the 
  segments. 
  All 
  kinds 
  of 
  dips, 
  dressings 
  and 
  patent 
  mixtures 
  have 
  been 
  tried 
  by 
  

   the 
  sheep-owners 
  (and 
  numbers 
  of 
  new 
  ones 
  are 
  being 
  placed 
  on 
  the 
  market) 
  to 
  dress 
  

   the 
  infested 
  wool 
  and 
  inflamed 
  skin, 
  to 
  kill 
  the 
  maggots 
  in 
  the 
  wool, 
  or 
  to 
  keep 
  the 
  flies 
  

   away 
  from 
  the 
  sheep 
  ; 
  but 
  nothing 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  has 
  been 
  discovered 
  that 
  

   will 
  keep 
  the 
  flies 
  from 
  blowing 
  wool 
  for 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  few 
  weeks, 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  all 
  that 
  the 
  

   makers 
  claim 
  for 
  their 
  mixtures. 
  After 
  travelling 
  among 
  the 
  sheep 
  stations 
  for 
  some 
  

   time, 
  I 
  issued 
  a 
  report 
  " 
  The 
  Sheep 
  Maggot 
  Fly, 
  with 
  notes 
  on 
  other 
  common 
  Flies," 
  

   published 
  in 
  the 
  Agriculturnl 
  Gazette 
  of 
  N. 
  S. 
  Wales, 
  January 
  1905, 
  reprinted 
  and 
  

   widely 
  distributed 
  among 
  the 
  sheep-owners 
  as 
  a 
  Miscellaneous 
  Publication, 
  No. 
  809. 
  

   This 
  was 
  supplemented 
  by 
  a 
  second 
  report 
  in 
  1910, 
  entitled 
  " 
  Sheep 
  Maggot 
  in 
  the 
  

   West," 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  journal, 
  afterwards 
  reprinted 
  as 
  a 
  Miscellaneous 
  Publication. 
  

   In 
  1913, 
  the 
  Cooper 
  Laboratory 
  for 
  Economic 
  Research 
  published 
  my 
  prize 
  essay 
  

   " 
  The 
  Sheep 
  Maggot-Fly 
  Pest 
  in 
  Australia," 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  written 
  some 
  time 
  

   previously. 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  not 
  however 
  until 
  about 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  this 
  year 
  that 
  the 
  sheep- 
  

   owners 
  took 
  any 
  steps 
  to 
  investigate 
  the 
  matter 
  from 
  a 
  scientific 
  point 
  of 
  view 
  ; 
  though 
  

  

  